Tang Xijin (唐錫晉) | 24 Histories

Overview

Tang Xijin was an official and Relief Organizer.

Other names

Type	English	Chinese	Pinyin
Courtesy name	Tongqing	桐卿

Life and dates

Death

AD 1912 越歲
Illness worsened by grief and indignation · From Source Date: Text: 宣統三年 · Western Year: AD 1911
Directly stated · Draft History of Qing 452, passages 292-293

Attested activity

AD 1875 to AD 1911 乙亥至辛亥
Directly stated · Draft History of Qing 452, passage 294
AD 1906 光緒三十二年
Dated from the passage context · Draft History of Qing 452, passage 288
AD 1900 光緒二十六年
Dated from the passage context · Draft History of Qing 452, passage 283
AD 1875 to AD 1879 光緒初
Dated from the passage context · Draft History of Qing 452, passage 278
AD 1889 光緒十五年
Dated from the passage context · Draft History of Qing 452, passage 281
AD 1888 光緒十四年
Dated from the passage context · Draft History of Qing 452, passage 279

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AD 1911 宣統三年
Dated from the passage context · Draft History of Qing 452, passage 292
AD 1912 越歲卒
Directly stated · Draft History of Qing 452, passage 293

Family

Immediate relationships attested in the translated histories.

Child of Tang Wenyuan (唐文源)
father 父 · paternal line
Directly stated · Draft History of Qing 452, passage 276

闔門殉粵難
Kinship Role household · Quantity entire household
Directly stated · Draft History of Qing 452, passage 276

Career and standing

instructor of Andong county 安東縣教諭
AD 1888 光緒十四年 · Appointed · At Andong 安東
Directly stated · Draft History of Qing 452, passage 279
circuit intendant 道員
Promoted · Reason contributed funds for relief
Directly stated · Draft History of Qing 452, passage 287
office restored and reassigned to Changzhou (Changzhou county) 奏复官，改銓長洲
Restored · At Changzhou 長洲 · Authority Duan Fang (端方)
Directly stated · Draft History of Qing 452, passage 287
shrines requested in provinces he had relieved 請立祠祀之
AD 1912 歿後 · Requested
Directly stated · Draft History of Qing 452, passage 297
Entered
Removed from office
Directly stated · Draft History of Qing 452, passage 286
removal from office 落職
Suffered
Directly stated · Draft History of Qing 452, passage 286

Places and affiliations

Polity Qing 清 · Relation Served
Directly stated · Draft History of Qing 452, passage 279
At Wuxi 無錫
Directly stated · Draft History of Qing 452, passage 275
AD 1900 光緒二十六年
At Andong 安東 · Relation Returned to
Directly stated · Draft History of Qing 452, passage 285

Learning and skills

Held
AD 1888 光緒十四年 · Credential tribute student by grace 恩貢
Directly stated · Draft History of Qing 452, passage 279

Works and attributed material

Commentary · Subject · Units s0319, s0320, s0321 · Mode historian-judgment
Directly stated · Draft History of Qing 452, passages 319-321
吾生矣！
Speech · Addressee · Direct quotation · Mode quotation
Directly stated · Draft History of Qing 452, passage 290
有司行賑不足恃，必得唐公。
Speech · Addressee · Direct quotation · Mode quotation
Directly stated · Draft History of Qing 452, passage 289

Events and relationships

Began charitable famine relief in Henan and Shanxi
AD 1875 to AD 1879 光緒初 · Relief · Organizer · At Henan and Shanxi 豫、晉
Directly stated · Draft History of Qing 452, passage 278
Directed charitable relief for 37 years across eight provinces from Jilin to Gansu, funds exceeding a million taels
AD 1875 to AD 1911 乙亥至辛亥 · Relief · Director
Directly stated · Draft History of Qing 452, passages 294-295
Entrusted by officials and gentry with Hunan disaster relief
AD 1906 光緒三十二年 · Relief · Organizer · At Hunan 湘中
Directly stated · Draft History of Qing 452, passage 288
Gathered family bones and verified them by blood after the Guangdong calamity
AD 1850 to AD 1864 亂平 · Ritual · Mourner
Directly stated · Draft History of Qing 452, passage 277
Impeached the Andong magistrate for greed and cruelty and was himself removed from office
Legal · Impeacher · At Andong 安東
Directly stated · Draft History of Qing 452, passage 286
Poled a small boat to relieve Huai, Xu, and Hai floods until beard and hair turned white
AD 1888 光緒十四年 · Relief · Relief worker · At Huai, Xu, and Hai 淮、徐、海
Dated from the passage context · Draft History of Qing 452, passage 280

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Provinces that had received relief requested shrines after his death
AD 1912 歿後 · Ritual · Honoree · Posthumous true
Directly stated · Draft History of Qing 452, passage 297
Raised 400,000 taels and relieved two prefectures and eight counties in Guanzhong famine
AD 1900 光緒二十六年 · Relief · Organizer · At Guanzhong 關中
Directly stated · Draft History of Qing 452, passage 283
Raised further funds when Andong flooded
AD 1889 光緒十五年 · Relief · Fundraiser · At Andong 安東
Dated from the passage context · Draft History of Qing 452, passage 281
Relieved Shandong coastal prefectures and established ever normal granaries
AD 1889 冬 · Relief · Organizer · At Shandong coast 山東沿海
Dated from the passage context · Draft History of Qing 452, passage 282
Though ill, forced himself to the Huai coast; refugees dispersed to await his relief
AD 1906 秋 · Relief · Reliever · At Huai coast 淮浦
Directly stated · Draft History of Qing 452, passages 289-291
Vowed to follow his father's last charge to do good
AD 1850 to AD 1864 亂平 · Personal · Vow maker
Directly stated · Draft History of Qing 452, passage 277
Was planning relief for Jiangsu and Anhui when the Wuchang uprising broke out
AD 1911 宣統三年 · Relief · Planner · At Jiangsu and Anhui 江、皖
Directly stated · Draft History of Qing 452, passage 292
Went alone by cart to the traveling palace and obtained 200,000 taels more from Wang Wenshao
AD 1900 光緒二十六年 · Political · Petitioner · With Wang Wenshao (王文韶)
Directly stated · Draft History of Qing 452, passage 284
Relation Petitioner to · Person Wang Wenshao (王文韶)
Directly stated · Draft History of Qing 452, passage 284
Relation Sponsored by · Person Duan Fang (端方)
Directly stated · Draft History of Qing 452, passage 287

Assessments and attributes

Assessment no charitable relief matched his in geographic scope or duration · Mode historian-judgment
Directly stated · Draft History of Qing 452, passage 296
Assessment virtue and kindness remain among the people; later generations still praise him · Mode historian-judgment
Directly stated · Draft History of Qing 452, passage 321
beard and hair turned white from worry and labor
Physical description
Directly stated · Draft History of Qing 452, passage 280

Source notes

Historicity historical
Directly stated · Draft History of Qing 452, passage 275

References in the histories

Search passages

History

11 passages

Draft History of Qing, Chapter 452Volume 452 Biographies 239: Hong Rukui, Yang Zonglian, Shi Pu, Shi Kekuan, Shen Baojing, Zhu Qiang Younger Brother: Qi Zhao, Zong Yuanhan, Xu Qingzhang, Xu Zhen, Kuai Guangdian, Chen Yusheng, Pan Minbiao, Yan Zuolin, Tang Xijin, Lou Chunfan · 11 passages

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唐錫晉，字桐卿，無錫人。 Tang Xijin, styled Tongqing, came from Wuxi.

亂平，錫晉拾親骨，瀝血取驗，誓奉遺訓力行善。 After order returned he gathered his family's bones, verified them by blood, and vowed to follow his father's last charge to do good.

時淮、徐、海大水，錫晉棹小舟往賑，憂勞甚，鬚髮為白。 When Huai, Xu, and Hai were flooded he poled a small boat through the waters on relief work until his beard and hair turned white from strain.

二十六年，兩宮西狩，關中大饑，人相食，錫晉醵金四十萬往賑，歷二州八縣，艱困不少阻。 In the twenty-sixth year, when the court fled west and Guanzhong faced famine so severe that people ate one another, he raised four hundred thousand taels and crossed two prefectures and eight counties without flinching.

兩江總督端方等奏复錫晉官，改銓長洲，後以輸金助賑保道員。 Governor-General Duan Fang and others had his office restored and reassigned him to Changzhou county; later he was promoted to circuit intendant for contributing to relief.

秋，淮浦被水，流民數十萬洶聚，喻遣勿散，咸曰：「有司行賑不足恃，必得唐公。」 That autumn floods on the Huai coast drove hundreds of thousands of refugees together; though told to disperse they refused, saying, "Official relief cannot be trusted—we must have Master Tang."

時錫晉臥病，猶強扶而至，眾見其來，驩曰：「吾生矣！」 Though ill in bed, he forced himself to come; when the crowd saw him they cried, "We are saved!"

錫晉憂憤，病日劇，越歲卒。 Grief and anger worsened his illness, and he died the following year.

錫晉治賑，自乙亥至辛亥，凡三十有七年，其賑地為行省八：山西、河南、江蘇、山東以及陝西、湖南，東至吉林，西至甘肅； Xijin directed relief for thirty-seven years from 1875 to 1911 across eight provinces—Shanxi, Henan, Jiangsu, Shandong, Shaanxi, and Hunan, from Jilin in the east to Gansu in the west;

義賑之遠且久，無過錫晉。 No charitable relief effort matched his in scope or duration.

自汝奎、宗濂以至錫晉、春蕃諸人，德惠在人，後人稱之至今，不可敬哉！ From Rukui and Zonglian to Xijin and Chunfan, their kindness endures among the people and posterity still praises them. Surely they are worthy of reverence!